"He was devoted to perfection in everything he did," said Harold S. Goldstein, his architectural partner for 37 years.

Lea's son Tom described him as "a self-made man of strong character" and said he liked to say, "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have the time to do it right?"

Lea designed everything from hospitals to schools to shopping malls, but his best-known projects were civic endeavors — the Sam Houston Coliseum, the Houston Children's Zoo and the remodeling of City Hall. He also designed the reptile and primate house at the Houston Zoo.

Lea was a World War II veteran whose experience was recounted in an article in The Saturday Evening Post. Shot down over Nazi-occupied Poland by Luftwaffe Me-109 fighters, he and six of his fellow B-17 bomber crew members (three others were taken prisoner of war) evaded capture when they were rescued by members of the Polish Underground Army and harbored as Polish citizens. Forty days later, they were turned over to Russian troops under Allied control.

Lea was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries suffered during the incident, as well as Poland's Cross of Valor and a European Theatre Ribbon with three battle stars.

A Wisconsin native who studied architecture at the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin, Lea was stationed at Houston's Ellington Field upon returning from Europe. In 1947, he joined Klein and Associates, which later became the Falick Klein Partnership. He retired in 1985.